Author Note
Hello there and welcome everyone to another chapter of Fate Shadow Spear. Before we begin with the chapter, let's answer the reviews from last chapter.
tl34lt12 - Bazett is not a part of this story, so assume that the same thing happened...she summoned Lancer and Kirei attacked her, taking Lancer for himself.
WolfrSaber - Ah no, this is not a Saber Alter story...I have other plans for an Alter servant.
hyperomegasonic26 - Sorry about answering your review in english, since we are both brazilian. It's just that others may read this, so i will write in english. The ruler servant was a concept in Fate Aprocrypha and because that grail war had fourteen servants as opposed to FSN's regular seven. Also, in Fate Aprocrypha, she was summoned because of Amakusa Shirou, another servant tempering with the war. In Heaven's Feel, the tampering was made from a magus, Zouken. At least, that's my theory. I concur with you that Rider became the heroine in HF route, but that only because Saber became the enemy instead. Thanks for the review and thanks for following my other stories.
Soda-fiedPsycho - Well, he could use his skills to trace weapons to fight the other servants, but he is not the strongest. Saber defeated him twice easily and you remember that in UBW, his Rho Aias was not enough to stop Lancer's thrown Gae Bolg. He was a mess afterward and Lancer could very well defeat him afterward. And he could not defeat Berserker as well. He died taking five lives from Heracles in the Fate route, even with Rin as his master. As far as him being stronger than Shirou, well, yes, he is a servant. However, there is something quite interesting in this chapter about Shirou and CG Emiya being in close proximity and the effect on Shirou because of it.
Accelbreaker - No, she is not. I have other plans for an Alter servant.
Kingallen - Yeah, well, there are plans in my mind.
Ok, that's about it for now. On with the chapter.
Heaven's Feel
Fate: Shadow Spear
Chapter 9 – Shadow
Instead of investigating the Ryuudou Temple, Shirou and Saber opted to stay at home and take care of a sick Sakura.
Had they chosen differently; they would have witnessed a major shift in the war. Something that may very well show outside interference should it left unchecked. Caster was in fact one prominent magus from the age of Gods named Medea of Colchis. The woman was knowledgeable in many of the mysteries in the world and as such had knowledge about the system of the Grail. Thus, being a mage as well as a servant, she was able to use the system to her advantage and summoned a servant for herself, Assassin. First, taking advantage of the strong leylines that passed through the temple, she lifted a highly impenetrable bounded field around the temple premises and then she placed the servant as a gate keeper of the temple to protect her master as well as the local inhabitants.
Assasin's identity was actually based of a samurai legend named Sasaki Kojiro.
Long indigo hair tied into a ponytail, he wore a traditional light purple unamori hakama and kimono, light purple tabi and black zori with purple haori. Strapped on his back was a long naginata sword in a purple scabbard.
Assassin was posed to strike anyone who dared to come through the stairway. Anyone who tried to enter the temple would meet his sword. However, Assassin was powerless to stop an attack coming from within himself. At first, he drew his sword off the scabbard, but any feeling he had over his own moves fell short and the sword simply went flying down the stairs as the blood licked freely from his mouth. Kojiro looked at his own blood in his hands and frowned.
"I wasn't expecting something like this…"
His body fell backwards and hit the ground hard as his chest expanded until a creature emerged from within his body. First a blood red arm and then a creature enveloped by a black shroud and a white skull-like mask. The creature first crawled from his position and then showed an incredible agility by jumping atop the temple's walls and then charged towards the temple. Back to Sasaki Kojiro, his ribs were open for anyone to see, but the servant was merely smiling as his body was strangely enveloped by an unknown curse. Immediately afterward, Medea of Colchis appeared, having sensed a disturbance in her bond with Assassin. Long purple hair and light blue eyes, she was wearing a jeans jacket, long beige skirt and high heels. Being enamored with her master, she dreamed of a life with him, after this war.
"Assassin…show up!"
She walked in search for her servant as she passed through the gates of the temple and then looked down the stairs to see her servant's sword there, before it vanished.
The ominous wind lifted her hair slightly as she narrowed her eyes at the feeling she was having right now. Within seconds, she had realized that whoever did this would certainly be a servant and could very well be targeting not her, but her master. Quickly putting on her witch outfit, Caster opened the sliding doors of the temple, precisely where she could feel the use of mana. As soon as she opened, however, she flinched upon seeing the floor filled with blood. She really wanted her eyes to be deceiving her, but it was not the case.
"Souichiro-sama…"
Her voice was trembling at the sight of her beloved master blooded on the floor and the creature enveloped by a black cape emerging close to the teacher's body.
Assassin then turned and addressed Caster as he was quite perplexed with this situation.
"This man, what is he?" The mask even turned sideways. "First, I sliced his head…arms, legs…I have cut it as well. I have opened his stomach. But still, he keeps on moving…"
To an assassin, it was quite a perplexed situation, though rather comical in a twisted way.
Caster then managed to wake up from her stupor, remembering that even if this was the true assassin servant, she still had control over him and used the command seal to stop Assassin from finishing the job to her master. Caster still had enough power to heal her master, from the amount she had stolen from the local population. If she could deal with Assassin now, then she could rescue her master. However, Assassin lifted Kuzuki's head and showed it to Caster. She hesitated upon seeing his bloody mouth twitch.
"Release me, witch…" Caster could very well see that Assassin's dirk was inches from dealing the killing blow and she could not bind Assassin forever.
So, deciding to trust the possibility that Assassin was merely using her master as a bargaining chip to escape, Caster summoned a iridescent and jagged dagger that is thin, brittle and blunt. This was Caster's noble phantasm Rule Breaker, a blade that is capable of severing the connection between master and servant. Gathering her resolve, Caster slammed the dagger into her own chest as the counter-magic ran its course, enveloping her in a pink ball of energy that extended towards Assassin.
"Are you happy now…release him this inst..."
Before she could as much as demand anything, Assassin had used his extreme agility and pierced her chest with his weapon. As Caster inclined forward, Assassin released his dagger finishing the swipe, before stabbing her in her back repeatedly, until he was satisfied that the witch was unmoving. He threw his dagger at the slowly moving Kuzuki, thus finally delivering the killing blow. Looking around, Assassin was satisfied with his kill, until he saw the curse spreading inside the temple. It was like the floor turned into a rotten mix between black and blood red and it marched towards True Assassin. The servant may not know what this was, but he was never a fan of facing anything head on, opting to leave through the temple's back door immediately and them jumping away from the temple, now that the bounded field was no longer there.
If the assassin opted to stay, however, he would have seen Caster's body being dragged away by something else entirely.
===Emiya's Household===
After making sure that Sakura was well-fed and taken care of, Shirou and Saber both went to their shared room to sleep for the night. Tomorrow, they would be out there once more, and both were quite eager for that. The other servants were quite strong, and they still have to face Caster and Assassin. The masters were of no importance as Shirou could hold them off while Saber dealt with the servants.
===Shirou's Dream===
The first thing that Shirou saw was a plain green field surrounded by trees. The skies were clouded but some sunbeams managed to pass through. There was a rock there in the middle and a sword could be seen upside down stuck on the rock. Shirou easily recognized the weapon as it belonged to Saber, or Arturia Pendragon. He could feel the swords power and grace from simply looking at it. There was a man with long white hair wearing a white tunic kneeling next to the sword, as if waiting for the chosen one to appear and take it.
The redhead saw a girl approach the place from down the hill. Blonde hair tied like that with fierce green eyes, the identity of the girl was unmistakable. It was the first thing Shirou noticed that he became captivated by. Arturia approached looking just like the servant she was now, but with plain clothing. She marched towards the sword, towards Caliburn.
Her resolve never wavering as she then moved to reach the hilt.
The man with the white hair simply smirked, somehow knowing the outcome of the being played in front of his eyes.
"You should consider it thoroughly before pulling the sword".
Her hand stopped inches from grabbing the sword as she looked at him.
"If you pick up that sword, you will stop being human. Furthermore, if you pull that sword, you will be fated to die a miserable way hated while resented by humanity"
Despite the man's words of precognition, Arturia's resolve never wavered and Shirou could very well see and be mesmerized by it. Arturia embraced this daunting mission before her knowing what would happen in the future.
"No, if I can make people happy with it, then I am sure it's not a wrong decision."
As soon as her hand grabbed the hilt and pulled Caliburn, the wind around them shifted as Arturia proudly lifted the sword up in the air as the sun illuminated her visage.
===Saber's Dream===
Everywhere she looked, it was darkness. Darkness of sight, darkness of sound, darkness of feeling.
Saber was half expecting this memory to be similar to the event of the fire. Her master has told her that that particular dream came every so often when he closed his eyes and slept. However, this was different. There was no fire, there was no people screaming for their lives in anguish, there was nothing. The only acknowledgement she had that something was going on was that she could feel the body moving. One step being placed in front of another for who knew how long. Eventually, her eyes came across a dark plain filled with hills surrounding her. For certain, she was not in Fuyuki anymore. The image was not much brighter than a few minutes ago, but at least she could see it better. However, as she stepped forward, she could suddenly feel her eyes closing as each step became more labored than the previous one. She realized that she was having trouble breathing properly.
Suddenly, though, her eyes widened to great proportions as she saw what appeared to be spirits hovering over her.
All of them looking like they wanted to devour her very soul.
Her first instinct would be to fight, but she later realized that this was a memory of her master. And he was powerless to stop them for fulfilling their goal.
As soon as the body fell on the ground, her eyes were slowly closing until the image of a bloody red spear skewered the spirits away.
Saber had awakened soon after that, gathering her breath as she looked at Shirou.
For someone who had a short live thus far her master had already faced two life-changing events in his life.
She thought that the first one was already mind-blowing as because of it, Shirou has lost his family and even his memories before the accident. Now, this happened. She had seen the spear before and that it belonged to Shirou's teacher Scathach, an Ireland legend that predated even herself. She was the one who saved him back then and tutored him to the man that he became today. Above all else, as she got to know her master better, there was one thing she could attest to…his valor. Aside from having a wish upon the Grail, Arturia Pendragon wished to know others to look up to…know their stories. She felt like that with Berserker while they crossed swords. A smile appeared on her face as she observed the peculiar person next to her.
She then heard the cat calling her attention and she looked down to see the feline.
Saber was about to comply with its request to lie down once more, when she looked outside the window and frowned upon seeing a shadow outside the house.
Rider was standing on top of a tree a few meters away from the house as she was unable to enter the house. Her intention was to take some mana from Saber's master through his dreams, but she was unable to enter the house due to a strong bounded field. If she tried to break it by force, she would definitely alert Saber of her presence. She needed it to keep herself in this world. She was not receiving much mana from her master, thus she needed something to hold on to, until Matou Sakura could recover from her illness. Unlike her vile brother, the sweet Sakura was against Rider attacking innocents, but Rider's mission above all else was to protect Sakura and she needed mana to sustain her at least until Sakura got better.
She would at least make sure not to take too much from anyone.
===Next day===
Shirou and Saber had woken up at the break of dawn like they did yesterday. Saber really did not require much sleep, but seeing as she could not dematerialize, she would be saving her master's mana supply by resting. Both would look at each other, quite differently than yesterday. Through their shared dreams, it became clear how much alike they were in terms of character. As such, they saw in each other, a resemblance that brought out great respect for one another. A quick check up on Sakura brought up relief as she did not have a high fever anymore. After that, Shirou and Saber had started out their day with a heated spar inside the dojo.
Saber had opted to increase the stakes today, keeping Shirou on his toes the entire time.
It is not to say that he could face her on equal terms, but he had the proper skills to keep up with her at the very least, thanks to Scathach's harsh training and the runes on his body.
Plus, with Saber no longer taking it slow, Shirou found that his eyes could follow her movements or at least visualize her fighting pattern. While he could not fight her on equal grounds, at least he could anticipate where she would attack next. Saber, for her part, perceived the improvement instantly and approved. So much so, that she even rewarded him by focusing her mana through her hidden sword until Shirou saw the weapon in all its splendor.
"Ready, Shirou…"
Saber needed only a nod from her master as he got into a defensive position, focusing on reinforcing his spear to take the blunt of her attack. Saber dashed at him using her mana burst and Shirou found himself hard pressed to simply see her, let alone follow her movements. Still, fighting with a spear allowed him to defend himself better and he angled the weapon just as her sword came from a diagonal slash approaching his right side. The spear bended upon impact as sparks were released from the attrition. Shirou was focusing his entire strength in holding her, but his eyes could perceive her facial expression. He was suffering to hold his own, but he could see a smile on her face, which promised great pain.
'Huh, she and Scathach have the same smile when they let loose…however Scathach never used the blade part of the spear.'
Saber then vanished from her position and appeared by Shirou's other side. This time, the redhead barely had time to position the spear to block and his arms were grazed by the attack. Saber used the momentum and flipped backwards to land a vertical down slash at him and Shirou backed immediately. Excalibur hit the ground hard, but Saber was surprised to see runes shield emerge from the ground, reflecting her strike. She looked at her master in curiosity as he got into position with his lance, twirling it with one hand.
"Yeah, every day I protect the dojo with these runes…we would have destroyed it long ago, otherwise."
Saber nodded and dashed once more, only this time she stopped short once she saw Shirou's spear igniting on fire.
"Come Saber…"
Being a knight above all, she needed no more incentive than this and dashed. Her foot slammed on the rune shield on the floor and vanished towards her master's position.
Shirou just waited as Saber attacked him…
===At the kitchen===
A couple of hours later and completely unaware of the heated training, Matou Sakura was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for herself, Shirou and Saber.
It was the least she could do for them for taking care of her yesterday.
The television was on and was reporting another event of gas leakage this time in Shinto. Shirou opened the door and walked in the kitchen followed by Saber. Shirou's training clothes were discarded as Excalibur did quite a number on it. The servant was quite apologetic for ruining Shirou's clothing after training. However, Shirou firmly believed that she was not regretful of her actions. Neither was he as he enjoyed the spar immensely. It reminded Shirou of his teacher's aggression and he found that he could not wait for her to return once more so Shirou could show his improvement. He saw that Sakura was still with her school uniform, despite today being Saturday, but that was because she fell ill yesterday and did not have other clothes to wear.
"Good morning Sakura, how are you feeling?" The girl turned with a smile on her face and greeted her senpai and even Saber.
"Good morning, Senpai, Saber…feeling much better, thanks for allowing me to stay Senpai…"
Shirou nodded and was about to help Sakura in the kitchen when the phone rang, and he went to pick it up.
Meanwhile, Saber approached the kitchen and aided Sakura set up the table.
Shirou meanwhile picked up the phone.
"Hello…Emiya residence. Ah, it's you Fuji-nee."
On the other side of the phone, Fujimura Taiga said that she would not be able to make it for breakfast. Shirou was also surprised to hear that something happened in Ryuudou Temple last night and that his friend Issei was admitted to the hospital because of it. Shirou appreciated the information and hang up the phone. Seeing as the war only resumed at night, Shirou figured he could at least visit his friend at the hospital. When he walked back to the kitchen, Sakura and Saber was on the table starting with breakfast.
"That was Fuji-nee, she is not joining us today…something has caught up." Sakura looked up as Shirou took a seating at the table for breakfast.
The trio looked at the television as the news of the gas leak and the number of victims caught both his and Saber's attention. With the war going on and servants out there fighting, it could not be a coincidence. Shirou then turned to Sakura as she helped him clean the dishes afterward, while Saber stood by the table, watching them at work.
"Sakura, are you going back home after this…you're welcome to stay more if you wish."
"Well, I appreciate It senpai, but nee-san and my grandfather must be worried that I did not come home last night…I…I will come back later tonight for dinner." Shirou nodded, a bit worried, though, about Shinji and Zouken. The fact that Shinji hit her yesterday was still in Shirou's mind. Also, he did now know if Sakura knew about the events of the war or about her brother and grandfather being in on it. And he could not risk simply telling her about it from fear of dragging her into this. In the end, he said nothing, and Sakura left the house with the promise of coming back later for dinner.
"What is it, Shirou?" The redhead turned to the blonde King of Knights. "Are you worried about her?" Saber saw him release a sigh as he scratched his head.
"I guess it's nothing. It's just that her brother is known for being a troublemaker and yesterday I found out he hit her." She frowned, now looking quite worried as well, since she became fond of the purple-haired girl.
"I see…" There really was nothing much to say, except acknowledge her master's concern. It was one endearing quality he had after all to look after those in need.
"Saber, would you please accompany me to the hospital…I have to make a quick stop to visit a friend." She looked at him and nodded as she followed him outside towards the hospital. "Fuji-nee told me that there was an attack at the Ryuudou Temple last night. She did not tell me much, but I need to verify this manner."
"You believe it was the work of a servant?" Shirou nodded in deep contemplation.
"I could feel the flow of energy going to the Ryuudou Temple two nights ago as you remember…so the servant was already there before hand…if a battle between servants occurred, then why Issei was targeted or the monks?"
"Perhaps, like Rider, either Caster or Assassin attacked them for their energy."
"True, Taiga said that Issei was severely weakened upon being admitted to the hospital. But I do not expect him to provide us any suitable explanation. Just a info of two that could provide us with something to use."
"Understood…"
===At the Hospital===
Once they arrived at the hospital, Shirou went to Issei's room. His friend was awake, but barely responsive.
All he could say was that they had found the bloodied corpse of their teacher Kuzuki and then the rest of the monks fell on the ground, one by one, sucked of their strength. Issei could not describe anything, except about a secluded woman with long purple hair that moved in with them a couple weeks ago, claiming to be Kuzuki-sensei's fiancé. However, she was nowhere to be found afterward. A quick conversation through their mind link concluded that this woman was a servant and was attacked perhaps by Assassin or one of the other servants. Issei looked at Saber and Shirou introduced her as an acquaintance from England that took residence in his house during her visit to Fuyuki. Issei, though, barely offered a greeting as the images of last night were still vivid in his mind.
Shirou then left the room that Issei was in, followed by Saber. He promised to visit his friend another day when he was feeling better.
As soon as Saber closed the door, they spotted Tohsaka Rin waiting outside. She merely ushered them to follow her to the roof, to which Saber and Shirou nodded.
Once they arrived at the roof, Rin took notice of Shirou's servant wearing the outfit that she supplied to the redhead. Despite her knowing how strong Shirou was and how strong the servant was because of their bond, she wondered why Saber could not dematerialize like the other servants could. Aside from that, Saber took position next to Shirou was they stood in front of each other.
"You wanted to talk to me, Tohsaka…" Rin just crossed her arms, while looking stern at the other master.
"I went to Ryuudou Temple last night…" Shirou and Saber frowned, wondering why she was revealing this to them. Though, if Rin were there, then she must have faced the purple haired servant that Issei described.
"I take it you were the one who engaged against the servant there…was it Caster?" Rin, though, negated.
"Archer recuperated after Saber's attack, so I at least went there to check…considering the number of incidents that are happening in the city. I have a responsibility with this place after all. Well, skipping to the conclusions, I don't know much about Caster. I do know it was her who used the temple as her safehouse. However, when we got there, Caster was already eliminated by someone else. Also, the residents of the temple had their magical energy sucked and were found in a deep coma. The only one assassinated was professor Kuzuki, so it stands to reason that he was…"
"Caster's master…" Rin nodded.
"Precisely…now the main concern is that there was another incident in Shinto this morning and I know it was Caster who was responsible for the other incidents."
Shirou now got worried and understood her concern.
"What's on your mind, Tohsaka?" Rin closed her eyes as she walked around the rooftops for a while, before turning to the other master.
"Whoever it is attacking the residents, it needs to be stopped. So, why don't we join forces to deal with this?" Shirou and Saber looked like the same at the Tohsaka's offer. Rin, though, kept smiling at the redhead. "It looks like this fifth war is quite different than the one described by my father. So, we can deal with whoever it is that is doing this, perhaps it's Assassin and the master." Shirou and Saber were debating the offer through their shared link, when Shirou's magic circuits had awoken. For some reason, the mere presence that he had felt made his circuits flare up, somehow it felt like Shirou was receiving more energy.
Saber could feel it too as she was bound to Shirou's mana supply.
"Rin…I must say I'm quite against joining forces with him of all people…"
Shirou and Saber both frowned as Archer appeared from behind the drying sheets. Saber found that the servant's tone towards her master was peculiar.
The war had barely started after all, so what could this servant has against her master.
"You speak as if you know me for some reason…Archer."
The white-haired servant snorted at that. At first, Archer wanted to dismiss Emiya Shirou as unworthy and he very well should be.
However, as he focused on the redhead, he realized that something was different…Archer knew from his master that Shirou fought with a spear of all weapons and moved in speeds that she could not follow. Upon hearing that, he felt that his master had somehow hit her head or something and that Saber had attacked her, but as he looked closer, he noticed some incongruences. For one thing, the bond between master and servant was complete as Saber's mana capability was off the charts. Rin took the stare down and sighed.
"Archer, I will make you follow my orders if necessary…" The white-haired servant looked at his master and snorted, before dematerializing.
Shirou was still trying to figure out why his magic circuits behaved like that near him.
"Emiya, what say you to my offer…" Shirou closed his eyes for a while and then turned to Saber, up in an internal debate with her about it.
"I guess we can join forces Tohsaka, at least until we deal with whatever it is that is attacking the city." Rin smiled and nodded at the redhead.
"Excellent, then, I will call you later tonight with the place for us to meet and scout the city…see you tonight Emiya-kun."
Shirou and Saber watched as Rin walked towards the hospital stairway and left.
===Later tonight===
Shirou and Saber came home after the hospital and Sakura was already there like she promised she would.
She was already preparing dinner and Taiga was there as well. The meal went by uneventful between the four as they talked about what happened to Issei and the strange events around the city, obviously omitting the real truth and the circumstances behind it. After washing the dishes together, Shirou explained to Sakura that if she wanted to stay, she was more than welcome to. He was glad that nothing major happened to her at the Matou household, at least not that he could spot. And seeing that the events in the city were escalating, he was afraid that Sakura would be caught up in, should she go back home by herself at night.
The timid girl accepted the invitation with a smile, to which Shirou returned, secretly glad to at least know that she would be safe here.
Taiga had left soon after dinner, saying that she scheduled a get together with her friends tonight. Sakura just watched as Shirou and Saber got dressed, though she wondered why they would go outside right now, considering that it just started raining.
"Senpai, is pouring rain outside…are you going somewhere?" The king of knights looked at the purple-haired teen and then at her master.
"Yes Sakura, Saber and I have a couple of duties to attend tonight, but we will be back as soon as it's finished." Saber had put on her beige raincoat and Shirou had his brown hooded jacket to protect them from the rain.
"Oh, please be safe then, I will be waiting." The look on her face was evident that she did not want him to go, but that unfortunately was unavoidable at the moment.
Shirou then turned and walked outside followed by Saber, none of them focused on Sakura's wrist showing her command seals.
===Throughout Fuyuki===
The city officials were working extra-hours as the sirens could be heard all over the city.
Meanwhile, Shirou and Saber were busy passing through the Fuyuki bridge crosswalk and neither of them bothering to speak much as Shirou was now with his bow strapped on his back. Seeing as Sakura would be home more often, he just could not let her see him leave with the weapon in hand. As such, he had quickly hid the bow close to his house in a dark alley secured by a bounded field.
Rin had already called with the location that she would be waiting for them.
Half an hour later, they entered what appeared to be a city park as Tohsaka was there already wearing her red hooded trench coat. It was pouring rain, but they could hear the distinguished noise of crickets that filled the trees.
"Tohsaka…" Rin's dark blue eyes were focused ahead as she could feel the use of mana in the air.
"Let us talk while we walk…we are being watched…" Shirou and Saber nodded, as both of them felt it as well.
"Do you happen to know who it is?"
"I do…"
Eventually, they walked until they reached a highly illuminated square shaped clearing in the middle of the park.
Rin stopped walking as did Shirou and Saber.
"I can assume that everything was your doing, Matou elder."
Shirou and Saber looked on as the crickets' noise increased until a wave of the noisy insects gathered in one specific point, until Matou Zouken revealed himself.
"As expected from the young Tohsaka…very good…and you have partnered with Emiya. Such a curious partnership…tell me boy, is my adorable granddaughter staying at your house?" Shirou frowned, but said nothing, which earned an ominous laughter from the elder Matou. "Well, it matters not. With you two here, it saves me the trouble of searching for the masters…"
They then watched as a warp up purple field energy appeared next to the smirking Zouken and it only gotten bigger, until Caster revealed herself in a blast of energy.
"Archer…" The white-haired servant materialized in front of his master as Saber threw away her trench coat and summoned her armor and her invisible sword.
When Shirou traced his red spear, Archer looked on and widened his eyes at the similar weaponry to Lancer's as he now validated Rin's story on how the redhead beat her. His more experienced eyes could see that it was a solid tracing projection, quite like his own, which was astounding. As far as he knew, the boy should not have this kind of skill yet. They all stood at the ready for Caster's attacks, but then they looked that the woman servant was having trouble walking. It was Saber who snarled at the man as she saw that the Caster servant had a strange dagger trusted on her stomach as crickets filled the insides of her body and mouth.
"Bastard…how dare you desecrate a Heroic Spirit's corpse…How dare you?" She was about to dash and attack, when Shirou ushered her to stop.
"Saber, please hold." The king of knights stopped in her tracks as she looked back at his master.
"Shirou…"
"That dagger that is on her body. It's an anti-magic noble phantasm." Archer looked at Shirou now with even more suspicion than before for as he could also trace Caster's dagger and understood its power.
Saber stood there prepared to strike as Caster released bolts of lighting from around her position as circles of energy grew over her. Each circle then emitted a beam of energy that targeted both the servants and the masters. Archer summoned Kanshou and Bakuya and blocked the incoming beams that would have reached both him and Rin. Saber had magic resistance and Caster needed something stronger to beat her. Shirou slammed the spear on the ground as a pillar of fire erupted from it, protecting him. This made Rin and Archer look at him, while Saber stood facing Caster, now wary about Caster's weapon being used against her. If Shirou was right, then that dagger could even sever her contract with her master.
Shirou then used his bow and fired a bombardment of projected arrows at Caster who used her own magic to open up a shield that blocked the projectiles.
Saber was already moving, following her master's opening. She dodged Caster's lighting beams and got into position to attack Caster who tried using Rule Breaker, but Saber evaded it and slashed Caster's hand off her arm. Archer followed suit and slashed the rest of the arm, before a huge explosion rocketed the area, seemingly engulfing both Saber and Archer. One Tohsaka Rin just watched on, seemingly quite lost in this battle of servants. Her eyes, though, focused on the redhead as he revealed a high fire elemental affinity quite like she had seen from her own father.
As the smoke cleared, Saber and Archer looked unscathed as Saber looked at Archer.
"It is best to make sure that she can't use that dagger on us…"
Saber then looked at the weapon on the ground. Caster then hovered next to Zouken, who looked at his opposition with keen interest.
"Well, let us finish this quickly." The allies then flinched as Caster focused all of her mana and even the accumulated energy from the locals. She lifted the other hand up in the sky as a gigantic ball of fire like a miniature sun emerged.
It was everything that Caster had in her as her body slowly melted because of the excessive heat.
Zouken just kept on smirking as he observed his enemies.
"This magic probably won't work against Saber…however what about the master instead…could you block this boy?"
Shirou looked at the highly concentrated ball of fire and frowned. While he had the runes to use, he needed a lot of mana to activate it. Saber looked on quite scared at the prospect of Shirou being hit by that. The fight, though, was brought up to a halt was the light suddenly went out in the area. Saber and Archer looked around, wondering what could have caused the blackout. Archer's eyes widened instantly, seeing the black and red silhouette that appeared hovering from within the park. Zouken for his part muttered curses at what was happening right now. Caster then redirected her fire beam towards the shadow as it travelled menacingly at it, carving a path on the ground.
As soon as it hit the shadow, its tendrils lifted high up in the air as Caster's fire ball got swallowed by the shadow.
"…Imaginary space…" Tohsaka's eyes were widened. Zouken looked at the shadow and snarled.
"No, it's not possible…this cannot be…" His attention was firmly on the shadow and Archer took the opportunity to decapitate the old man.
However, Zouken's body reverted back to the crickets and flew away, while muttering the same words over and over again like echoes in the air. Now, the shadow was alone against Archer, Saber, Shirou and Rin. Archer, for his turn, turned to the Shadow as a black ink like shadow emerged from the soles of its feet and travelled towards Caster, swallowing her whole, while Saber stood in front of Shirou protectively. After Caster was enveloped by the shadow ink, it reverted back to the red and black shape.
Archer, for his turn, saw it preparing another attack just as the shadow released a straight-line shadow ink towards his master.
He used all his agility and grabbed Rin out of the way, however a small part of the shadow touched her and she lost her breath immediately as unbidden images of terror assaulted her brain. Rin was on the ground in convulsion as Archer tried his best to awaken her. Shirou was by their side immediately and drew a healing rune Tiwaz on her body, focusing on as much mana as possible to rid her body of the curse.
While it would not do much on its own, he was certain that Tohsaka's own mana would help. Archer looked at the procedure with keen interest, silently wondering how the boy learned how to use runecraft magic. He decided to let Rin on Shirou's astoundingly capable hands as he got up to see that the shadow was no longer there.
"Archer…" the white-haired servant looked at Saber. "Do you know what that is?"
"I don't….but it looks like this shadow is the one that is absorbing the citizen's magical energy. The effects on Rin after touching that shadow is quite similar to the reports. Huh, it seems that this is not the situation where I can prioritize my personal matters." Archer then turned as they heard Rin stir from her unconsciousness in Shirou's protective arms.
"Are you alright, Tohsaka…"
Still not fully understanding what happened, Rin looked at the concerned expression from Shirou and nodded weakly as she accepted his help to get up. She was still having trouble standing, though, as her energy was quite drained.
"Archer, we need to take her home…she needs to rest."
The white-haired servant scowled at being ordered by Shirou of all people, but he acquiesced. He dematerialized in order to conserve his master's mana, while Rin walked with Shirou's help followed by Saber.
The king of Knights looked at the place where the shadow was just moments ago as incongruences amounted in her mind.
Matou Zouken was not Caster's master, but he was able to control a heroic spirit of that magnitude. Also, the fact that Zouken looked startled at the presence of that strange shadow, meant that he knew something about what that was. Whatever it is, it was no servant, but it somehow absorbed Caster. Her entire experience in this war was limited to the interaction between master magus and servants in a war to the death to acquire the Holy Grail.
However, this war was quite different, and it scared her.
As Shirou's explanation of what happened to Kiritsugu came to mind, Saber pondered on the beliefs she had up to this point as she followed her master carrying the weakened Tohsaka heir back to her house.
===Emiya's Household===
Sakura was busy finishing the laundry when her body started convulsing in pain once more.
She was at a loss as to the reason behind this as she doubled in pain and quickly crawled to the room she slept yesterday.
Author Note
Ok, that's it for now. As we move forward, the battles are gearing up. Archer is looking at Shirou in a different light and Saber is beginning to have doubts about the war.
For those wondering about Scathach, she will make her return shortly. Perhaps, in Chapter 10 or Chapter 11.
Please tell me your thoughts and feedbacks.
Thank you and see you all soon.
Next update: Avalon Bond